Press statements following Russian-Chinese talks

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping made press statements following the talks.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: President Xi Jinping, ladies and gentlemen,

We have just concluded substantial talks with the President of China and the high-level delegation of our Chinese friends accompanying him on this visit.

This is Mr Xi Jinping’s first visit abroad since taking office as President of the People’s Republic of China. My acquaintance with him goes back a long time now and we have built up good and friendly relations over these years. But this is the first time that Mr Xi is visiting Russia as President of China, and it is his first foreign visit in this capacity. We greatly value this symbolic gesture which unquestionably reflects the special strategic nature of our relations.

Our two countries’ multi-faceted cooperation is in our peoples’ fundamental interests and is a conscious historic choice. We agreed today to do everything we can to continue developing our trade and economic cooperation, humanitarian and other ties. We will continue our close coordination on regional and international issues. Our commitment to common goals and our similar positions on many issues are reflected in the Moscow Joint Declaration and the Action Plan for Implementing the Agreement on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation.

Our talks today focused specifically on trade and economic cooperation. Both countries want to encourage reciprocal investment. We agreed to make more active use of the possibilities the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund offers, and to pay particular attention to infrastructure and production projects in the Russian Federation’s Far East.

We have also agreed to continue our close cooperation in high-tech fields such as outer space exploration, information technology, aircraft manufacturing, and energy, including nuclear energy.

The large number of joint projects gives us confidence that we will soon bring our bilateral trade up to the $100-billion mark, and in the not too distant future will see it reach $150 billion.

We discussed promising joint regional action in areas such as water resource use, shipping, and environmental protection, and on issues such as combating illegal migration and ensuring reciprocal travel for our citizens.

Big projects in culture, health and other humanitarian areas have done much to deepen our humanitarian cooperation. We are in the middle of another project now – the reciprocal tourism years.

The Year of Russian Tourism in China was a success and we saw a substantial increase in the number of tourists. Today, the Year of Chinese Tourism in the Russian Federation will hold its opening events.

The President of China proposed holding reciprocal youth exchange years in 2014 and 2015, and this initiative will certainly be supported. We will do everything we can to ensure that our young people can have free contacts with each other, discuss joint projects, and organise joint initiatives for the future.

Back in 2010, Xi Jinping and I discussed the idea of organising an exhibition on the Chinese Communist Party’s VI congress, which took place in Russia in 1928. We have now agreed to open a permanent exhibition at the site.

Of course, we also discussed current regional and international issues, above all those on which we coordinate our action in the UN, the UN Security Council, the BRICS group, and the G20. We discussed the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, and possible developments in Afghanistan.

In conclusion, I want to thank our Chinese friends once again for this open and useful dialogue.

The Chinese delegation headed by the President of China will continue its work in Russia tomorrow, but I can already say now with full assurance that Mr Xi’s state visit to our country is going well.

This visit will certainly produce positive long-term results, will have a good effect on relations between our countries and peoples, and will strengthen our partnership’s strategic nature.

I am very pleased that I was able to meet with my good, long-standing friend President Putin today in Moscow.

Three years ago, I visited Russia and saw it with my own eyes. Now, back in Russia three years later, I am seeing new, positive developments in this country.

Your nation firmly maintains its socio-political stability and your economy is advancing rapidly; Russia is playing an ever-greater role in international affairs. We in China are genuinely happy for Russia’s successes, development and progress.

Immediately after becoming President of China, I am making a state visit to Russia in order to continue our positive tradition: our nations’ heads of state always visit the other nation on their first visit abroad. This demonstrates the high level and particular nature of all-around partnership and strategic cooperation in Chinese-Russian relations.

President Putin and I had constructive, substantive talks in a trust-based, well-wishing and business-like atmosphere. During the talks, we discussed issues of a bilateral nature, as well as all the important international and regional issues that are of mutual interest to us. Based on the outcomes of the talks, we reached agreements on a wide spectrum of issues.

Together, we determined vectors and key areas for further developing Chinese-Russian relations, as well as our cooperation at the next stage. Based on the overall situation and our long-term prospects, we decided that we will continue considering the development of our relations as a priority direction in our countries’ foreign policy.

We will firmly and decisively support the efforts of the other side to defend its national sovereignty, security, and development interests, emphatically back the other side’s aspiration to follow its path in accordance with the real conditions of their nation, and encourage the other nation’s work toward development and revitalisation.

We share the view thatdeveloping large-scale economic cooperation between our countries is dictated by the need to jointly overcome the international financial and economic crisis, as well as the promotion of economic development in our countries. Today, all the conditions are ripe for this large-scale cooperation.

In this respect, the two sides will fully tap into their cumulative potential, the advantages of our economies, and work as hard as possible to strengthen our economic power, as well as our international competitiveness.

I know that our friends in the media have a great deal of interest toward Chinese-Russian cooperation in energy. On the eve of my visit to Russia, the two sides already essentially reached breakthrough agreements on additional oil supplies, pipeline construction and the import of Russian liquefied natural gas.

Thus, President Putin and I confirmed these agreements and gave instructions for our government agencies and corporations to begin implementing these agreements accordingly.

At the same time, I want to stress a very important issue: Chinese-Russian cooperation in energy is manifold, comprehensive and full-fledged. In our cooperation, we always meet each other half-way with the goal of achieving reciprocal advantage and mutual benefit.

China and Russia have similar or identical positions on key international and regional issues. And in this respect, we have broad common interests. We decided that in the future, we must continue strengthening our coordination and reciprocity further to resolve the key issues. We are determined to assert the goals and principles of the UN Charter, as well as the universally recognised principles of international relations, in order to defend justice and equality in the world, to assure peace, stability and prosperity on the planet.

Naturally, I also want to express my sincere and deep gratitude to President Putin for his warm invitation, as well as his cordial welcome, and to thank all the Russian colleagues from the Russian Government for their extensivework in receiving our delegation.

Today, as President Putin said, was the first day of my visit to Russia. I can state that this day was a great success. This allows us to affirm that we did not come to Russia in vain; this visit is progressing very successfully. Tomorrow, we will continue this work, but I can already tell you now that my visit will certainly end in success.

Friends and members of the media, I would like to thank you very much for your efforts in covering my visit. In the future, I will visit Russia frequently, and President Putin will also visit us often. I think that we will meet many more times.

In conclusion, I would like to wish all of you good health, happiness and success.